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20LSO-0501
2020
STATE OF WYOMING
20LSO-0501
Numbered
2.0
SENATE FILE NO. SF0103
Community development districts.
Sponsored by: Senator(s) Nethercott, Baldwin, Gierau, Kost, Pappas and Rothfuss and Representative(s) Brown, Burlingame, Duncan, MacGuire and Olsen
A BILL
for
AN ACT relating to cities, towns and counties; authorizing municipalities and counties to create community developments districts as specified; specifying requirements; providing definitions; specifying duties and powers of community development districts and district boards of directors; authorizing assessments; specifying duties of municipalities and counties; amending definitions; and providing for an effective date.
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Wyoming:
Section 1
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W.S. 15
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12
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101 through 15
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12
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113 are created to read:
CHAPTER 12
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT DISTRICTS
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12
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101.
Community Development District Act; short title.
This article shall be known and may be cited as the "Community Development District Act."
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12
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102.
Definitions.
(a)
As used in this act:
(i)
"Assessed value" means the total assessed value of real property within the district. Assessed value shall be determined from the last assessment roll of the county within which the district is located;
(ii)
"Board" means the board of directors of a community development district;
(iii)
"District" means a community development district as organized under the terms of this act;
(iv)
"Elector" or "voter" means a person who is a qualified elector or an owner of land in the proposed or established district, including any corporation, partnership or association owning land in the district provided the individual who casts the vote for a corporation, partnership or association presents the election judge with a written authorization to vote for the corporation, partnership or association. No person is a qualified elector who is under eighteen (18) years of age, a mentally incompetent person, or who has been convicted of a felony and his civil or voting rights have not been restored. In applying provisions of the Special District Elections Act of 1994 to this act, the terms "elector" or "voter" shall include qualified electors and landowners;
(v)
"Enhanced transportation services" means an additional system for the provision of, or additionally provided or funded, transportation services that transport the general public by bus, rail or any other means of
conveyance or any combination thereof, within, to or from the district, in addition to any existing city, town or county services;
(vi)
"General plan" means the plan described in W.S. 15
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12
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106, and as the plan may be amended;
(vii)
"Governing body" means, for any district formed wholly within a municipality, a "governing body" as defined in W.S. 15
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1
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101(a)(vi), and for any district formed within both a municipality and an unincorporated county, the "governing body," as defined in W.S. 15
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1
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101(a)(vi), and the "board" as described in W.S. 18
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3
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501, acting in parallel proceedings;
(viii)
"Improvement" means and includes buildings, structures and all facilities of a public nature intended for public use, including but not limited to streets, sidewalks, curbs, gutters, bridges, alleys and other public ways, parks, recreational facilities, water, sewage, solid waste disposal and other sanitary systems and facilities, broadband and public utility upgrades, and with
respect to the foregoing, such additional facilities or improvements that are necessary for the maintenance and functioning of improvements or providing services;
(ix)
"Landowner" or "owner of land" means the person or persons holding a majority interest in the record fee title to one (1) or more parcels of real property or a person or the persons who are obligated to pay general property taxes under a contract to purchase real property;
(x)
"Municipality" means any incorporated or chartered city or town as established under Wyoming law;
(xi)
"Service" means any of the following:
(A)
The operation, repair, maintenance and replacement of improvements and any other service authorized by this act;
(B)
Snow removal and the purchase, operation, repair, maintenance and replacement of personal property in relation to snow removal;
(C)
The provision of enhanced transportation services and the purchase, operation, repair, maintenance and replacement of personal property in relation to such services;
(D)
Contracting for broadband services;
(E)
The provision of recreation services, and the purchase, operation, repair, maintenance and replacement of personal property in relation to such recreation services.
(xii)
"This act" means W.S. 15
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12
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101 through 15
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113.
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12
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103.
Districts authorized; general function.
(a)
Any area exclusively within the boundaries of a municipality, or, with the approval of a county governing body, including all or a portion of an unincorporated area
of a county, may be formed into a community development district to perform any of the following functions:
(i)
Acquire, construct, operate and maintain improvements of local or regional necessity and convenience, whether located within or without the boundaries of the district;
(ii)
Obtain and provide improvements and services of local or regional necessity and convenience, including by contracting for the same with any city, town, county or other entity;
(iii)
Furnish or perform any service that enhances the use or enjoyment of any improvement or service to or within the district, regardless of whether such improvement or service is located or provided wholly within or without the boundaries of the district;
(iv)
Funds assessed under this act shall not be used to contract for broadband services unless the district is unserved as defined by the federal communications
commission. The district shall not acquire ownership in any broadband facility funded pursuant to this act. For purposes of this subsection, "broadband facility" shall not include conduit. The district shall not utilize any funds procured pursuant to this act to provide its own broadband services in competition with private providers.
(b)
A district shall not be formed to provide improvements and services that are basic and customarily available to residents of a municipality except that:
(i)
A district may be formed to provide an improvement or service if the improvement or service is not in fact available to residents of the proposed district at the time of formation;
(ii)
A district may be formed to provide for enhanced transportation services even if provided by a governing body.
(c)
If a municipality subsequently provides an improvement or service that a district was created to provide, the district shall either:
(i)
Dissolve pursuant to W.S. 22
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401 through 22
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408; or
(ii)
Amend its general plan pursuant to W.S. 15
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106(b) to provide other improvements or services in accordance with this act.
(d)
A district formed pursuant to this act is a separate entity and a political subdivision of the state.
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104.
Jurisdiction.
The governing body, or bodies if applicable, shall hear proceedings for the creation of community development districts. Except as otherwise provided district formation shall be governed by the Special District Elections Act of 1994.
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12
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105.
Creation of district; commencement by petition; hearing and election procedures.
(a)
Proceedings for the formation of a district shall commence by filing a petition addressed to the governing body in which the land proposed to be included in the district is situated. A petition to form a district shall be signed by not less than twenty
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five percent (25%) of the persons owning land within the territory proposed to be included in the district, whose land in the proposed district has an assessed value of twenty
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five percent (25%) or more of the assessed value of all of the land within the proposed district. The petition shall be accompanied by a general plan as described in W.S. 15
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106 and a filing fee of two hundred dollars ($200.00).
(b)
Upon receipt of a valid petition, the governing body, or bodies if applicable, shall review the petition and hold a hearing on the formation of the district. Upon request of a governing body, the petitioners may submit an amended petition that modifies the boundaries of the district. Upon approval of the governing body, or bodies if
applicable, there shall be an election for the formation of the district and for the members of the board. The election shall be at the expense of the district.
(c)
A hearing and election under subsection (b) of this section shall be deemed waived if one hundred percent (100%) of the landowners within the proposed district sign the petition as originally prepared and agree on all of the members of the board.
(d)
The boundaries of the district shall be certified to the county assessor of the county in which the district is located within sixty (60) days after formation of the district.
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106.
District general plan.
(a)
A petition for the formation of a district under W.S. 15
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105 shall be accompanied by a general plan. The general plan at a minimum shall include:
(i)
A description of the purposes of the district and how the purposes will be realized through the creation of the district;
(ii)
A description of any improvements anticipated by the general plan and how those improvements will be constructed, operated, maintained and financed and when the improvements are expected to be completed;
(iii)
A description of any services anticipated by the general plan and when the services are expected to be available;
(iv)
A description of the general duties and responsibilities of the district to be paid for from the mill levy assessed pursuant to this act;
(v)
A statement that assessments will exist only for the period of time required to complete improvements and complete the duties and responsibilities of the district or so long as is necessary or desirable for the district to provide services, at which time the district
shall recommend to the governing body that the levy be discontinued. Upon receipt of a recommendation to discontinue the levy, the governing body shall submit the proposal to the voters of the district pursuant to W.S. 15
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12
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112(b);
(vi)
Any other information the district or the governing body deems appropriate for disclosure within the general plan.
(b)
The general plan may be amended under the following procedure:
(i)
A proposed amendment to the general plan shall be submitted by the board to the governing body, or bodies as applicable, for consideration. If the governing body, or bodies, approves the amendment by resolution, the proposed amendment shall be delivered to the clerk of the governing body, or bodies. The proposed amendment shall be mailed to every landowner in the district;
(ii)
Within thirty (30) days of the date of mailing the proposed amendment, any landowner in the district may object in writing to the proposed amendment and request a hearing before the governing body to offer objections to the proposed amendment;
(iii)
If no objection is filed or if the governing body approves the proposed amendment after a hearing on objections, the general plan as amended shall become the general plan of the district.
(c)
The board shall implement the general plan and unless otherwise specified in this act shall have all powers necessary to implement the general plan.
(d)
The district clerk and the clerk of the governing body shall maintain the general plan and make the general plan available for inspection at their respective offices. Upon direction from the governing body, the governing plan may also be recorded in the offices of the county clerk of the county where the district is located.
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107.
Powers of district.
(a)
Each district may:
(i)
Have and use a corporate seal;
(ii)
Sue and be sued, and be a party to suits, actions and proceedings;
(iii)
Enter into contracts for the purpose of providing any authorized improvements and the maintenance and operation thereof, or otherwise to carry out the purposes of the district;
(iv)
Accept from any public or private source grants, contributions and any other benefits available for use in furtherance of its purposes;
(v)
Borrow money and incur indebtedness and other obligations and evidence the same by certificates, notes or debentures and issue bonds;
(vi)
Assess the costs of improvements within the district against the real property specially benefited upon a frontage, zone or other equitable basis, in accordance with benefits;
(vii)
Adopt rules and regulations consistent with law;
(viii)
Establish and collect charges for the use of improvements and services provided by the district, including authority to change the amount or rate thereof, and to pledge the revenues therefrom for the payment of district indebtedness;
(ix)
Acquire and own or lease real or personal property, including easements and rights
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of
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way, within or without the district for district purposes;
(x)
Contract with other districts for common use of improvements and services for the benefit of the inhabitants of all contracting districts;
(xi)
Provide or supplement, as appropriate, services not customarily available, or not available in sufficient quantity or quality, within the municipality or county which are necessary to protect the health and welfare of residents in the district and the value of real property therein, and to enter into agreements with any public or private agency, institution or person for the furnishing of the services;
(xii)
Provide for recreation by means of parks, playgrounds, golf courses, swimming pools, recreation buildings or other recreation facilities;
(xiii)
Provide for street lighting;
(xiv)
Provide for the opening, widening, extending, straightening and surfacing in whole or in part of any street as well as the maintenance, reconstruction, snow removal and clearance for roads and streets;
(xv)
Provide for the construction, maintenance, reconstruction and improvement of bridges, culverts, curbs,
gutters, drains and works incidental to any street improvement;
(xvi)
Provide enforcement of covenants, reservations and restrictions of record;
(xvii)
Establish and collect charges for the use of any improvement to cover the cost of operating and maintaining the improvement;
(xviii)
Contract for broadband services in unserved areas as defined by the federal communications commission;
(xix)
Form, join or provide funding for a joint powers board for the purchase and provision of improvements or services;
(xx)
Take other action as necessary to carry out the purposes of the district.
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108.
District board of directors; compensation.
(a)
The district shall be managed and controlled by a board of directors consisting of either three (3) or five (5) voting members. The initial board members shall be elected at the organizational election or by petition approved by one hundred percent (100%) of the landowners within the district. A simple majority of members shall serve an initial term of two (2) years and the remaining members shall serve an initial term of four (4) years after formation of the district and until their successors are elected and qualified at the regular scheduled subsequent director election as provided in W.S. 22
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112. Thereafter, members shall be elected for terms of four (4) years. A vacancy occurring on the board during the term of an original director or his successor shall be filled as provided in the Special District Elections Act of 1994.
(b)
A member of each governing body where the district is located shall serve as a nonvoting member on the board. Each such nonvoting member shall be selected by a vote of the governing body. The nonvoting member shall serve a term of four (4) years or until the member is no
longer on the governing body of the municipality, whichever occurs first. Vacancies under this subsection shall be filled by the relevant governing body, which shall select a new member by majority vote.
(c)
The members of the board shall serve without compensation but shall receive reimbursement for actual and necessary expenses incurred in connection with the performance of their duties.
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109.
Intent to provide for special assessment.
(a)
The board may by written, recorded declaration order improvements or services to be paid for by assessment. The declaration shall specify all of the following:
(i)
The nature of the improvement or service proposed;
(ii)
The property within the district to be improved or served;
(iii)
The probable cost as shown by estimates of a qualified person;
(iv)
The time in which the cost will be payable;
(v)
The time when a declaration authorizing the improvements or services will be considered.
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110.
Notice of declaration; hearing; objections.
(a)
At the request of the board the governing body shall, by advertisement once in a newspaper of general circulation where the district is located, provide notice to the owners of the property to be assessed that specifies all of the following:
(i)
The nature of the improvement or service proposed;
(ii)
The property within the district to be improved or served;
(iii)
The probable scope of included expenses for the improvement or service;
(iv)
The time when a declaration authorizing the improvements or services will be considered by the board;
(v)
That maps, estimates and schedules showing the approximate amounts to be assessed and all declarations, resolutions and proceedings are on file and may be examined at the office of the governing body or other designated place;
(vi)
That all complaints and objections concerning the proposed improvement or service by owners of real property subject to assessment will be heard and considered by the board before final action, under the provisions of the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act.
(b)
If objections to the improvement or service are made by owners or agents representing owners of land subject to fifty percent (50%) or more of the projected dollar assessments, the improvement or service shall not be authorized and a new declaration for the same or a similar purpose encompassing lands subject to objections shall not be considered within one (1) year thereafter.
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111.
Notice of apportionment; assessment roll.
(a)
A copy of the declaration as finally adopted shall be recorded by the clerk of the governing body. The clerk of the governing body shall within sixty (60) days after the adoption of the declaration by written notice, mailed or otherwise delivered, notify each owner of land to be assessed of the amount of assessment, the purpose for which the levy is made, the assessment against each lot or parcel of land, and the date it becomes delinquent.
(b)
The clerk of the governing body shall prepare an assessment roll as specified in W.S. 15
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401 et seq.
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112.
Duty of officials to levy and collect assessments; administrative deduction.
(a)
The treasurer or clerk of the governing body where the district is located shall levy and collect assessments in the manner provided for assessments in W.S. 15
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401 et seq., except that the payment of the collections shall be made monthly to the treasurer of the district and paid into its depository to the credit of the district.
(b)
Assessments levied and collected to provide services pursuant to this act shall remain in effect until a petition to discontinue the assessment, signed by not less than fifty percent (50%) of the voters of the district, is received by the governing body where the district is located, at which time the proposal to discontinue the assessment shall be submitted to the voters of the district at the expense of the district at the next general election. If the proposition to discontinue the assessment is defeated, the proposition shall not again be
submitted to the electors for at least twenty
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three (23) months.
(c)
The governing body may deduct up to one percent (1%) of the amount of collections to cover all administrative expenses and costs attributable to performing its duties under this section.
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113.
Rules and regulations; enforcement.
The board may adopt reasonable rules and regulations not inconsistent with law for the government and control of the district organization and to facilitate the collection of taxes, assessments or charges. All rules and regulations adopted pursuant to this section shall be promulgated in accordance with the Wyoming Administrative Procedure Act and filed with the clerk of the governing body for the municipality in which the district is located.
Section 2.
W.S. 15
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101(a)(intro) and (xv) and 18
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3
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504 by creating a new subsection (f) are amended to read:
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1
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101.
Definitions.
(a)
As used in W.S. 15
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1
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101 through
15
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11
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302
15
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12
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113
:
(xv)
"This act", unless otherwise specified, means W.S. 15
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1
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101 through
15
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11
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302
15
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12
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113
.
18
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3
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504.
Powers and duties generally.
(f)
Each board of county commissioners shall review and approve or disapprove of the formation of a community development district and perform other duties as specified in W.S. 15
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101 et seq.
Section 3.
This act is effective immediately upon completion of all acts necessary for a bill to become law as provided by Article 4, Section 8 of the Wyoming Constitution.
(END)
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SF0103